7.31.2007

The West Coast sound became a powerful influence over the American psychedelic scene, producing both a wealth of bands on the cost itself and a host of imitators and hopefuls across the country.

Ivory - Ivory Ivory's sound owes a huge debt to the Jefferson Airplane, and in fact may be the best of the band's imitators. Rooted in a very female vocal heavy fuzzed sound, the band also incorporated a looseness that gave them a real sense of humanity. But

the band's lyrics dealt with anything but, they were a band of the time and concentrated on mind expansion and the cosmic realms. The band made this sole album before vanishing back into the well they sprang from, which as was a case with many of the better second tier bands, a horrible shame.

Afterglow - AfterglowThe Oregon based Afterglow's eponymous album plays like a who's who of West Coast influences; they touch on Jefferson Airplane, The Doors and The Byrds with equal aplomb. This inability to find a consistent voice actually ends up as

one of the album's strong suits, sounding a bit like a 60's compilation in the highest regard. Laced in farfisa and bits and bobs of fuzz and strum, the band may have only been able to pull off this single shot, but its hodge-podge qualities and vibrant cover art have made it a favorite amongst collectors. Definitely worth a listen or two.

7.30.2007

Thurston Moore

Pairing up with Steve Shelley and violinist Samara Lubelski (Hall of Fame, Tower Recordings) Thurston Moore crafts a heartfelt, heavily acoustic album that mixes nicely his sense of pop and his taste for outsider recordings. Trees Outside the Academy shows some of the eternal youth's age but in a completely natural fashion, with some tracks letting melancholy and a touch of weariness seep in at the edges. Still many songs seem to bristle with the trappings of an ever turbulent spirit possessed with an ability to fuse the intensity of sound with the accessibility of pop. Samara's violin work is a constant on the album and much as she is an accomplished solo artist in her own right, her work here adds an earnest quality to many of the songs, painting Moore's words in clouds of maturity that dissipate the walls tension he's built over so many years. As he becomes increasingly the underground's leading champion and a jack of all trades; writer, label owner, etc., Moore proves that at heart he's always a musician first.

7.27.2007

Telepathe have created quite a reputation for a band without a proper album. The band, along with Psychic Ills, Indian Jewelry, and Gang Gang dance have bred a new form of hazy rhythmic psych that's quickly carving out a genre all its own.

Telepathe - Sinister Militia 12"Following up their Farwell Forest EP with a new 12", the band drop one of their most engaging tracks yet. The jerky, stutter-dub of the title track would be enough to keep them in good standing, but as a bonus the 12" features a remix of the title track

by !!! and remixes of two new tracks, 'Islands' and 'Crimes and Killings' by Soft Pink Truth and Alexxxchange respectively. The latter swerving a bit dancy for me but the first three tracks are top notch. I'm still interested to see how the duo hold up on a full length but for now these tasty tidbits are enough to hold me over.

Residual Echoes

Adam Payne and Co. release an EP that eschews their love of long-form freakouts for a dash of 60's garage punk. Moving back to L.A. from Santa Cruz may have put a shot of pop into their usual lot of acid fried jams, and with the exception of the EP's closer no tracks stretch past the five minute mark. The new direction hasn't done anything to deplete the band's fiery delivery though, Firsts still seethes with urgency atop the new bits bop and jangle. The first and last tracks still retain a feeling of the band's past so it appears that they've not totally shirked their image, though these traces of the past seem to be the best of the bunch so here's hopin' the band doesn't actually drive into the pop territory for good.

7.26.2007

Hassara

Time Lag culls together the three self-released CD-r's that James Toth put out under the name Hassara into one album, Backyard I-III. A divergence from either the Vanishing Voice or Wooden Wand monikers, the Backyard sessions are closest to Toth's work with The Zodiacs. All three volumes work from a blues basis, but fuzzed and blown out beyond any normal ragged 12 bar blues. All instrumental, the songs focus on repetition and groove reminiscent of Tetuzuki Akiyama in some places. A few of the tracks pull back the intensity a bit but for the most part this is a speaker melting high volume mix of burners that leave no room for contemplation, just of the moment playing and gut feeling. However, when the tracks do slow down they play with a charm and liquid rhythm that enchants more than it destroys. A definitive document of the Hassara namesake, and a well appreciated effort on the part of Three Lobed.

7.25.2007

Expo '70

Animisim is Expo '70s first official CD release, following a string of heavy drone/krautrock inspired cd-r releases on Kill Shaman. Turning out to be one of the heavier releases in his catalog, Justin Wright lays down a ton of deep drone and spacey effects. Working slowly up from distant thunder to ethereal waves of billowy effects, the album is a solid frontrunner for drone album of the year. Wright seems to languish in the beautifully myopic effects of the drone, hitting you hard with the weight of the guitar but diffusing the landscape it exists in. Once the clouds roll in Wright faces the gale with a calm and even hand on the strings and a foot on the effects wrangling slow and easy space blues over the full force dronescape that looms overhead. Wright has garnered much attention from his cd-r releases and Anamism stands to cement that reputation even further.

7.24.2007

Two bands whose roots lie south of the U.S. border that both fused bits of rhythm and melody from their native lands with the burgeoning sounds of hard rock coming from the U.S. and U.K. scenes.

Luv Machine - Turns You On! The members of Luv Machine came together on the Island of Barbados but shortly after their formation relocated to London. The band produced a funky, fuzzy brand of rock with a heavy rhythmic touch. The band's sound owes a great deal

to their fellow bands in the English scene of the same period; touches of Cream, echoes of Hendrix. In fact The Sweet thought so much of them that they picked them to open on an Italian tour. Unfortunately as things often go, the label's support quickly faded and the band eventually dissipated. Their sole album has been reissued along with some choice bonus material, definitely worth checking out.

Traffic Sound - Yellow Sea Years '68-71The Peruvian band Traffic Sound fused tinges of the British hard rock sound with a very Latin-soul inflected psych edge. Utilizing flute and sax, they touch on some jazz leanings that expand the scope

beyond the average rock album of the day. This compilation culls together the bands work between 1968 and 1971, pretty much the most prolific point for the band. The album swings from hard edges to breezy folkish numbers effortlessly showing the many sides and strengths of the group; a great snapshot of a sorely overlooked band in its prime.

7.23.2007

The Skull Defekts

The Skull Defekts emerge from their noisy past and create a somewhat more straightforward record. The sounds on Blood Spirits & Drums Are Singing aren't exactly what you'd expect from a band that once split a release with Wolf Eyes; the record owes much more to PiL than to John Wiese but the results are probably the band's most captivating yet. While the themes of doom and noise have been knocked down a notch, the band's attention to repetition and pounding rhythm meshes nicely with their newfound attention to post-punk's past. Grating, choppy guitars work their way over clockwork rhythmic chugs that could boil from their inner tension. The album was definitely an unexpected move but I think much to the band's favor as the realm of noise becomes increasingly more crowded by the day. The album is out now on Conspiracy Records, home to releases by Jesu, Boris and Growing

7.20.2007

Black Dice have consistently been at the forefront of the new wave of noise, utilizing elements of fuzz, rumble and cacophony and molding them into rhythmic structures that seem barely possible. The band stays consistent on their latest 12" leaving a huge hope for the next album.

Black Dice - Roll Up/Drool 12"A companion piece to the Manoman 12", this EP shows an upbeat side to the band. The tracks are light and dare I say almost whimsical but still very much pushing the boundaries of the utilization of sound. The tracks were recorded at Brooklyn's Rare Book

Room and reportedly the band have focused on a songwriting style geared towards reproducing the tracks in a live setting. I'm definitely liking the positive upswing on these and hoping that this trend continues to permeate but not necessarily overtake future releases

7.19.2007

Belly Boat

Another gem from the edges out on Not Not Fun; Zoe and Silvie from Belly Boat have created an album of ramshackle folk that is as dissonant as it is precious. Their voices clamor for attention like small children but then suddenly out of the dixie cup folk they pull together into sweet earnest pop songs that are immediately and overwhelmingly charming. Mostly comprised of the two voices, some dime store guitar, piano and the breathy squeeze of an accordion, Dear Robert Hanoy is the sound of joyous inexperience; and where others drown themselves in layers of perfection, Zoe and Silvie let their rough edges charm you until you let them fall away and reveal the pop gems at their center.

7.18.2007

Library Tapes

Though the combination of classical piano and field recordings is starting to become a genre unto itself, it still amazes me when someone can pull something so powerful from something so simple. Swedish artist David Wenngren has on his third and now solo record, created a stirring set of songs that are littered with melancholia and a wonderfully antique sense of ennui. Höstluft sits on your chest like the memory of each year squandered, his sense of loss filling up your lungs. There's a touch of bittersweet but its filtered through the dusted and scratched lens that Wenngren creates through field recordings. His piano lines are simple but as with others in this genre, the simplicity is what creates the greatest impact; just trails of sallow notes that float from the speakers to ignite the spectre of the past. This record is definitely in the top of this genre, competing with Eluvium and Max Richter in terms of emotional depth. Höstluft is out now on Make Mine Records.

7.17.2007

A distinctly garage mix from the Jukebox this week; gritty classics permeate this list but I won't leave those who like a good melody in there hanging. Some bits of pysch and a tinge of blues inflection round out the mix nicely.

[MP3] Five Day A Week Straw People -Gold DiggerA one off studio concoction from John Du Cann of The Attack produces some modest results on the whole but did leave us with this gem of a thumping garage classic. The bass pounds and Du Cann's voice rolls smoothly over the mix crafting an easy swagger that pulses throughout the track; a great ode to the bad girl.

[MP3] Crystal Garden -Peach Fuzz ForestA Canadian band with a heavy style and a steady beat. This is a vamped up garage rocker that barely stops to catch a breath until it hits a noodly jazz bridge, then jumps back in the fire. The song is less about melody as is about intensity; each guitar line thrashed against the strings and the vocals tear forth in shouted cadences. High octane to say the least.

[MP3] Fresh Air -For What It's WorthFresh Air take on the Buffalo Springfield classic with an R&B garage attitude. The pace is sped up and the easy rocker becomes a rollicking anthem complete with urgent blues guitar, organ and rapidfire drumming that really kicks the song into gear.

[MP3] Nite People -Love, Love, Love, Love, Love An organ led pumper with a huge beat pulsing it along; this track by the Nite People utilizes a repetitive structure that mirrors its title well. A find for beat collectors these days I'm sure, the track is also propelled by fits of searing guitar in the solo sections. A nice bit of the past indeed.

[MP3] The Trolls -Walking ShoesA weary harmonica laced bit of garage blues. Singer Jim McPhersen sneers with a taste of the Stones, leading this excellent track with apt appeal and a voice that should have gone much further than it did. Once again sometimes talent only takes you so far and great moments are lost to time. This is worth several spins.

7.16.2007

múm

With the departure of vocalist Kristín Vlatýsdóttir, múm expand their sound and members to fill the gap. Gone is her otherworldly voice floating over the skittish mix of electronics and aching symphonies, but in its place the band have shifted from a childlike sense of loss and wonder to a much more exuberant and playful sound. The songs on Go Smear The Poison Ivy are still filled with the wide-eyed wonder that marked their earlier work but now the tone seems celebratory and the tempos have quickened likewise. The electronics on the album scutter and twist along beautifully, twining themselves amongst the bells and violins quite naturally. Voices, both male and female chime in like schoolyard playmates. But as the album winds down the band return to a more somber feeling, spreading out into two captivating cinematic pieces that draw the album to a close. It's almost unfair to even compare the album to early works, they're similar but with such a shift in personnel this is really the sound of a band using change as a catalyst to venture way beyond their previous means. Go Smear the Poison Ivy is out September 24th.

7.13.2007

Sic Alps' album Pleasures & Treasures garnered the number 3 spot in Bull Tongues' top albums of 2006 and rightfully so. With this 7" they continue in that fine tradition and word from their site speaks of a new 12" on the way soon.

Sic Alps - Semi-Streets 7" After realeasing a great album's worth of fuzzed caked scuzz pop last year Sic Alps followed it up with a 7" featuring one of the most memorable songs from the album. How a song that's so dirty and speckled with grit can still stick in my head for days is beyond

me but something in it just works. They round out the 7" with three additional non-album tracks that make me eager to see what the band is going to lay out for their next release.

Hala Strana

Steven R. Smith has a long track record to add to his psych/folk resume, clocking time in Thuja, playing on a handful of Jeweled Antler projects like The Birdtree and The Blithe Sons, and of course his solo work as Hala Strana. The latter focusing more on raga structures than the fading folk and forest noise of the Antler and Thuja releases. This latest record Heave the Gambrel Roof splits time between interpretations of "standards" and his own dark mesh of drone and raga. The album twists down spectral back alleys caked with the dust from horse carts and heavy with the putrid humidity of late August. Smith has always had a talent for interpreting Eastern tones with the feel of authenticity and this latest album is no different. Its haunting and foreign but oddly accessible; feeling like a lost gem that you're lucky to have stumbled on.

7.12.2007

Health

I was a bit skeptical going into this one for a couple of reasons: 1. The only connection I knew of to the band was Crystal Castles. They did a split with them previous to this album, and I can't say that band does much for me. 2. Its on Love Pump United and the last couple releases I'd heard outta that camp didn't sit that well with me. However LPU did put out that USAisamonster pic disc and hey they issued the Indian Jewelry record on LP so anything's worth a shot, right? Happily this record isn't too reminiscent of indie dance, neu rave whatever you want to call it. On the contrary Health hits the base of your skull like a sugar crash and then proceeds to squiggle and thrash its way into your blood stream. There's a beat in there but its more like the pulse keeping the beast alive. The band swerve into the noise territory but find a great balance between the beat and the chaos; serving up total trash bin disco for noiseniks. Overall I'd have to say that my reservations were unfounded. This record is well worth a spin and probably a few more after that.

7.11.2007

Xiu Xiu Larsen: XXL

A more somber affair than the last pairing of Xiu Xiu and the Italian band Larsen, ¿Spicchiology? casts a dark but at times wonderful shadow over the collaboration. This time both Jamie and Caralee collaborate with the band and her presence is certainly felt on the album. I've always been spotty in my admiration for Xiu Xiu alone, their records don't always hit me in the right places, but when Stewart allows the influence of others into his music it seems to bring out that certain missing ingredient. The colaboration with Grouper, and now this latest have made me warm to him (them) all over again. The album floats in a dark wonderment seemingly or supposedly as a reaction to sadness and violence. In some tracks Stewart's familiar quaver floats over delicate textures of tension and ambience, while the instrumental tracks give the album an urgent cinematic touch that definitely shows the presence of Larsen. This is by far the better of their two collaborations and well worth picking up. If you act fast, Important is giving away a disc of rehearsal sessions that are almost as engaging as the album itself.

7.10.2007

The late 60's and early 70's saw a flourish in British Folk, so much in fact that many deservedly talented acts fell by the wayside seemingly to disappear into the fog they emerged from. Many emulated more popular musicians, seeing their style as a road to fame, but the best were able to work from the palette of others without merely copying. These two acts both implemented a heavy love for Jansch but without owing their entire sound to him, ultimately moving on from his decidedly pastoral forms and onto something new.

Synanthesia- Synanthesia The sole record from this late 60's group was hurriedly recorded in two days, but the skill and charm of the record would never give it away. Owing to Jansch's plucked country sytle, the band then expounded on this sound with flourishes of jazz

inflected flute and saxophone. The vocals had a Bowie-esque sense of timbre and whimsy though no where near his quality of lyrics. The band sunk mostly without impact but has since been rescued by the good people at Sunbeam. The jazz-folk fusion speaks much to their credit in the face of what would become too many noodly progressive fusions of jazz and rock in the years following their inception. Its a wonder more didn't try for the sound but also quite refreshing to hear someone pull it off so effortlessly.

Rick Hayward - Rick HaywardFollowing his run in The Accent and some studio time with a post Zombies Rod Argent, Hayward settled in as a session player for the Blue Horizon label ultimately cutting a solo record for them. The album certainly plays on the light

fretwork that Jansch became so popular for but delves more into the pscych-folk and blues realms on some tracks than Bert ever would. Rick began a follow up album that was never properly released at the time but a reissue of the debut has packed the tracks in as a bonus. The second album shows less focus than the first which probably explains why it wasn't released but nonetheless Hayward was a talent that was certainly overlooked in his time.

7.09.2007

Liars

As the Liars continue to defy the expectations set upon them, their new album shows them merely growing in the same directions begun on Drum's Not Dead rather than pulling any musical 180's. The diversity remains but this time the sound has regained a tough edge not really seen since their debut. Maybe the guys traded in their Animal Collective records for the last two Oneida releases. Maybe they're looking to the past and possibly finding themselves again along the way. Maybe not, but whatever they're doing it seems like a step in the right direction. Liars is steeped in atmosphere, the vocals are hazy but much less chorused than the last record, the songs buzz and crumble with a familiar din and there's a hint of fire at the edges of some tracks. It still lacks the immediacy that permeated their debut but at this stage of a band's career immediacy is hard to come by without some pretty serious tragedy shaking things up. This record is definitely the sound of a band fusing its influences and interests into its own aural past. Liars is out August 28th.

7.06.2007

The Fun Years

Isaac Sparks and Ben Recht have created a record that screams out in defense of the album format. Ok well considering their nature, perhaps screams isn't really the correct word but Life-Sized Psychoses does capture an album's ability to exist as an entity quite nicely; each song fading into the next with subtle slide and crackle. The duo have been creating ambient resonance for some time now, and this latest album shines through with their mix of turntable loops and mindful guitar. On paper this sounds like just another group of electronic musicians fiddling with knobs and trying to interject the relics and remnants of rock into this context but honestly the result is quite brilliant. Brecht's touch on the guitar locks in a touch of groove that is complemented aptly by Spark's choice of noisy LP samples that turn each particle of well ingrained dust into skittish percussion. Songs can sometimes wander into the sleepy territory but just before this happens, Recht comes through with some heat on the guitar and turns the feeling around. Definitely a record meant to be listened to in the dark, and definitely not to be taken lightly.

7.05.2007

Nonloc

The second solo outing from Bright frontman Mark Dwinell sees him locking back into a krautrock inspired series of loops and minimalist folk. Between the Hemispheres plays on a theme of repetition that Dwinell has explored in Bright but here he focuses more closely on emergence of glassy ragas that tumble over the top of the chugging beat structures. Dwinell's minimalist approach works best in the instrumental tracks as the vocals often soften the focus of the music's impact. The instrumentals buzz with wonder and at times some darkness. But when Dwinell finds the delicate balance between his words and his playing they can be quite complimentary, each ebbing and flowing into each other with gentle ease.

7.04.2007

Burning Star Core

All of a sudden C. Spencer Yeh seems to have had a flurry of productivity; bursting out releases on Ultra Eczema and Yik Yak and hitting up some colaborations with Comets on Fire and Hototogisu. Yeh has a knack for the noise, but mixes in all sorts of extra ephemera on each subsequent release. His latest, Blood Lightning 2007 is capped at each end by two complimentary drones that splinter into mind melting debris; then in the middle of the album Yeh goes demonic, with "A Curse on the Coast," which sounds in bad need of an exorcism. Yeh is definitely carving a niche for himself in the drone/noise corner and this LP adds nicely to the mix. He never allows himself to be pinned down too hard, wielding drone and dissonance like two halves of the same sword. It seems as if his prolific period is just hitting its stride so I expect we'll see quite a bit more from him in the furture.

7.03.2007

Often times there will crop up bands that choose the same name, causing confusion and in this day and age, legal battles. In the mid to late 60's there sprouted three bands in three countries all with the moniker Kaleidoscope. Neither the Mexican nor UK versions attained the notoriety that the US band did but all were deserving of attention in their own right.

Kaleidoscope (US) - Side Trips This California band was most known for their ability to seamlessly mix eastern instrumentation with the newer psychedelic sound. Utilizing the oud, saz, bouzouki, fiddle, and banjo amongst others they were able to blend eastern sounds into the

context of rock with a much more subtle approach than many others who simply attached a sitar to a track for effect. Occasionally the band would venture into too much of a jug band, old timey sound but for the most part they crafted a unique sound that garnered them a contract with Epic. The band lasted for about four albums, but after several line-up changes and the loss of principle songwriter Chris Darrow the band eventually dissolved, but they left behind a wealth of material yet to be appreciated by a wider audience.

Kaleidoscope (UK) - Tangerine DreamGarnering a bit less attention, the UK Kaleidoscope produced psychedelia of much lighter but equally compelling quality. Their debut edged into the fantastical lyrical realm that marked Barrett era

Pink Floyd, but the music was peppered with a much more folk-oriented psych approach. Many of the songs hinge on delicate melodies that give the record a very light and dreamlike quality. The band only really lasted for two albums but are a prime example of a very prolific period in British psych. Not entirely of the same vein as the US band but almost certainly worth picking up just the same.

Kaleidoscope (MX) - KaleidoscopeLess known than either of the first two was the Mexican incarnation of Kaleidoscope. Much more garage and fuzz oriented than the others, this band showed a rather muscular and hedonistic approach to the psych boom of the period. They had

all the sneer and swagger of the best garage acts, but took to the interjection of oddly placed effects that I suppose were the band's idea of psychedelic. These aside the album is not without merit and pulses along with a dash of organ and a rumble of fuzz.

7.02.2007

Zelienople

After a string of great releases and a tour of reputable labels (Time-Lag, Root Strata, Digitalis) drone-psych mainstays Zelienople turn up on Type records with another haunting spectrescape lunge into psychosis. His/Hers is a ghostly tour of bummer psych with soft edges of space blues that weave in and out of focus. Equal parts Loren Connors and Charlambides, the record proves that the band is well worth the attention that they've received (in some circles). Soft passages break free into restrained feedback, full with static and brimstone. Matt Christensen's vocals float over din and restraint with an affected indifference; sadness permeating the tone no matter what bubbles underneath. It does seem that some bit of turmoil has entered the bands repertoire, His/Hers spends more time in squalor and uproar than previous albums have dared to tread and much to the band's credit. A great step forward into the fire and out of the darkness.